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Reports of the Detroit Lions’ pass-rush death have been greatly exaggerated.

A pass rush that was considered moribund without a sack halfway through the preseason suddenly is starting to look like Frankenstein’s monster, a reanimated and relentless freak that feeds on quarterbacks.

The Lions, who tied for last with just two sacks in the preseason, are third in the NFL with eight sacks after Week 2. Six of those came Sunday against San Francisco.

All this without Ziggy Ansah?

The Lions defense has used a holistic approach to rushing instead of relying on their star defensive end, who has played just 19 snaps because of a shoulder injury.

“Everybody on the same page rushing and covering,” said linebacker Eli Harold, who had a second-quarter sack. “(Defensive backs) are doing a heck of a job covering downfield and ultimately you get the quarterback to hold on to the ball, that’s when we really can eat. It goes hand in hand: coverage and rushing, rushing and coverage.”

Defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni said that fits exactly with this philosophy of the front and back end of the defensive working cooperatively.

“A quarterback holds the ball when the coverage is tight,” he said, “gives the rush another fraction of a second to get there, and I thought we had some good examples of that on Sunday.”

One of the more surprising elements of the Lions’ pass-rushing success was that they often just rushed four — at least initially — and that 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo often held the ball so long.

“It was kind of surprising,” Harold said of Garoppolo’s patience. “But like I said, we came out and hit a few home runs, man. And that was huge for us, for our confidence, for the coaches.

“Like I said, the DBs and the line, we’re all of one accord. And that’s what successful defense is all about, relying on each other.”

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Week 2 of the NFL season is wrapped up. The Lions are 0-2, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Patrick Mahomes are lighting up scoreboards and the Jaguars are making a statement in the AFC. How do this week's power rankings shape out? Free Press writer Dave Birkett gives his list: Sergio Estrada, Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

18. Ravens (1-1) | Last game: Lost to the Bengals, 34-23 | Previous ranking: 10 | The buzz: Ravens rank second in the NFL in total defense, behind only Washington. David Kohl, David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

30. Lions (0-2) | Last game: Lost to the 49ers, 30-27 | Previous ranking: 30 | The buzz: Lions have December road games against the only teams lower on this list than them. Kyle Terada, Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

32. Bills (0-2) | Last game: Lost to the Chargers, 31-20 | Previous ranking: 32 | The buzz: The Bills are so bad one of their players retired during Sunday’s game Timothy T. Ludwig, Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

The Lions employed various strategies. They ran clever stunts. They ran delayed blitzes. They used a spy to contain Garoppolo. Harold loved the variety.

“It doesn’t matter, bro,” he said. “Pressure’s pressure. I don’t care how you get it done, you get it done.”

Getting it done this week will be decidedly tougher. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady eliminates pressure better than anyone by getting rid of the ball quickly.

“He’s hands-down the best, in my opinion, that ever played the game,” Harold said. “He knows everything. He knows what defense you’re in. So we just have to do a good job of doing our job of getting the rush in his face, trying to throw different stuff at him.

“But at the end of the day, it’s about us. They’re coming in our house trying to eat off our plate. We’ve just got to do what we’ve got to do to get a win.”

Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.